Bebe Dois - 20 Weeks

Profile of Bebe Dois at 20 weeks

It's hard to believe I am past the halfway mark with this pregnancy! September is going to be here before we know it!

I went in last week for my 20-week appointment. I made the appointment with the midwife who works in the practice with my doctors. She was fabulous! So much more what Eric and I want in a care provider! The doctors there are great, but at the end of the day they are still surgeons and treat pregnancy very medically. The midwife really seems to share our philosophy on pregnancy and childbirth and is 100% on-board with us wanting a completely natural delivery again. We officially moved over under her care now instead of the OBs'.

Everything continues to go great with this pregnancy, just as with Gabriela's. Bebe Dois is growing and doing well - HR was 148 at this visit. I haven't been feeling much movement at all though. Since it is my 2nd pregnancy and I was feeling movement with Gabs by this point, my midwife ordered an ultrasound to verify all was well.

Eric and I were excited to have the ultrasound. The practice we go to doesn't do any routine ultrasounds at all. Unless there is an issue, you never get that sneak peak at the kiddo. (Much different from Brasil where we were getting ultrasounds pretty much every month!) Along with obviously wanting to confirm everything was fine, we also really wanted to know the sex of the baby!

The ultrasound went well. The baby is moving normally; just not nearly as much as squirmy-wormy Gabriela did. The ultrasound techs used to literally chase Gabs all over my uterus. This kid waved an arm, sucked on a hand, and kicked a leg, but was pretty much content just chilling. As she watched Little Missy wriggling around in her Papai's lap, my midwife smiled and said everyone deserves a calm baby - this just might be ours!

The trouble, though, is that our ever so calm and chilled out kid was positioned butt-down and back with legs crossed and tucked underneath. It was impossible to see anything! Probably our sole chance to learn the sex and he/she refused to cooperate! Go figure!

So Bebe Dois remains an "it".

Obviously, it doesn't really matter to us whether it's a girl or boy, but if it is indeed a boy I've got a lot of shopping to do! Everything we own is pink or purple or has ruffles on it. If it is a boy, I've half a mind to make him wear it anyway. You know, as punishment for not cooperating.

The Pit Stop Challenge

I had full confidence in my ability to drive 14 hours straight through from Iowa to Georgia by myself while 20 weeks pregnant and with a one-year-old.

I had this great idea several months ago. My brother, Justin, gets married May 22. I figured Gabriela and I would drive down early, spend a few days in Georgia with my parents, and then head over to South Carolina to help with wedding preparations. Eric could then fly down just before the wedding and then drive back with me afterward.

Originally, I was going to leave at Gabriela's bedtime and drive through the night so she could sleep the whole way. That plan was looking less appealing though as I really need my sleep these days, and I know from past experience that those early morning hours just before sunrise are really hard for me when I pull an all-nighter on the road (and that's with company in the car!)

I decided instead to leave after she woke up from her first nap and ate lunch. That way she would start the trip in a good mood, take her afternoon nap on the road, we could stop for a quick supper break, and then she could go to sleep and sleep the remainder of the way. And lucky for me, I have a real trooper of a kid. She did just as I expected and never once cried, whined, or got fussy. She just sat there in the backseat entertaining herself when she was awake and sleeping when it was time to sleep. She is such an awesome traveler!!! (Especially when there is no one in the backseat with her. For some reason she gets really whiny and wants to be entertained if there is an adult back there with her!)

We managed to make the entire 900 mile drive with just two stops - which I can't even do when Eric's with me (I swear Gabs has a larger bladder than he does!) Pit stop number one was a little more than I bargained for though.

We stopped at 5:30 in Effingham, Illinois. Fuel, bathroom, supper, and we'd be back on the road.

Fueling up was no problem.
Supper at the attached McDonalds was fine.
It was the potty-break in between that proved challenging.

My prego bladder was full, but I decided to change Gabriela's diaper first. I got her on the changing table and got her diaper off. It was wet, but not dirty, so I thought I'd go hold her over the potty to give her a chance to take care of business where she wouldn't have to sit in it for several hours.

Leaving the diaper bag on the changing table, I carried her bare-bottomed across to a stall. We were 1 step away when I heard a splat. I looked down to see a turd on the floor. Fabulous! But I was fairly certain there was more to come, so I rushed her over the toilet and prayed no one walked into the restroom.

After she finished up, I took her back to the changing table, quickly re-diapered her hiney, and then used the wet diaper to clean up her mess on the floor.

By this point I was doing my own little potty dance. So I threw the giant diaper bag over one shoulder, held Gabs on my other hip and made my way into a stall and immediately noticed there was no hook or shelf for the diaper bag. Gabriela was excited to be out of her carseat and was squirming to get down. But she was barefoot for the car ride, so I didn't dare let her stand in the public bathroom. As she squirmed and the bag swung around me, I struggled to unbutton my jeans and pull down my pants - I cussed myself for not wearing something elastic-waisted.

Then I attempted the all-famous female hover technique as to not obtain any of the many diseases accredited to public toilet seats. At 20-weeks pregnant, I might not be that big, but my balance is off. Throw in a giant diaper bag and 19 pounds of squirmy little girl who is now trying to get into the bag and dig stuff out of it, and I found it to be most challenging to keep my bottom safely in the air. But I managed.

Then came the real test: how to pull up my underwear and jeans over my ever-growing rear-end and get them buttoned and zipped. I bounced and wiggled while my diaper bag banged loudly into the stall wall and Gabriela squealed like a baby pig since by this point she had wiggled around and I was holding her tucked underneath my upper arm like a newspaper and squeezing her around the midsection as to free my hand. Lord only knows what people thought was going on in there!

I got myself put back together, only to find the lock on the stall was jammed. So a little more banging around and I finally made it out of there to go wash my hands. Where I discovered the soap dispenser required two hands to function. And Gabriela managed to get into the water and soak the front of her outfit.

I've never in my entire life been more thankful that Gabriela was a singleton. How on earth would I have managed that with twins?!? (I'm also seeing the beauty of these little hang-your-kid-on-the-wall contraptions that I've always thought were really strange.)

(Eric pointed out that I am about to have a second kid - seemingly concerned about my future abilities to visit public restrooms solo. I maintain that is going to be much different than a twin. By the time the baby is old enough to be out of his/her infant carrier and require to me to hold during bathroom visits, Gabriela will be big enough to stand on her own inside the stall with us. MUCH different than if I had to hold two 1-year-olds at the same time while I try to go potty.)

Gabriela's First Birthday Party

In Brasil, kids' birthday parties are really big deals. Parents will often rent special party places or else have a bash at their home. Either way, it's usually complete with elaborate decor (more decorated than some wedding receptions I've been to), a hired entertainer for the kids, lots of beer for the adults, and enough candy and sweets to cause dentist everywhere to cringe. The birthday parties we went to were a lot of fun, but we couldn't help but wonder how much money parents were dropping on a party that the kid will never remember (in the case of a one year old.) An expat friend in BH had a really interesting take on the birthday parties in Brasil, it's worth a read!

Eric and I wanted to do something fun for Gabriela's first birthday, but nothing too over-the-top. We decided to take host a churrasco, a Brasilian-Style Cookout. The menu included:

On the grill: pork loin, beef, chicken breast wrapped in bacon, and sausage.

From the kitchen: feijoada (black beans cooked with meat), rice, vinegrette, couve (collard greens lightly cooked in a cast iron skillet), along with some fresh strawberries and carrots for munching.

For the celebration: Homemade ice cream (a churn of strawberry and one of Oreo), a giant caterpillar cake with two chocolate cake sections, two strawberry cake sections, and a special apple cake with apple juice-sweetened cream cheese icing section for the birthday girl. (I wanted to be able to turn her loose with the cake, let her eat as much as she wanted, and not have to worry about her getting a bellyache from consuming too much butter and sugar!)

The things we forgot to put out included farofa, potato chips, and a pineapple we were going to grill. Oops. (The day was a little busy, and there was a lot of food, so I don't think our forgetfulness was too noticed!)

The weather cooperated beautifully and we had an awesome sunny, still, and not-too-hot day to spend out on the deck with family and friends. There were 25 of us all together, and we had a great time!

The morning of the party: decorating the cake. I would say I procrastinated on that one, but actually it was just the first chance I had to get it done. (Note to hubby and self: next time we're having weekend house guests and a cookout for 25 people, let's not try to complete a dozen home-improvement projects the week of.)

Eric's assigned station for the day: the grill. He didn't complain about spending his time in front of fire surrounded by dead animal parts on long spears while wielding a large knife. It made him feel all caveman-ish. (If cavemen had fancy stainless steel propane grills.)

Where I spent the first half of the party: in my favorite place, the kitchen! I love cooking for a crowd! (It makes me feel all grandma/Paula Deen-ish. I like that.) I love it even more when my mother-in-law is there and she cleans up behind me the whole time! I don't think I washed a single dish the entire day! (Thanks Nena!)

Both sets of grandparents with Mamae, Papai, and the birthday girl

The cake! Let's overlook the fact that I forgot to put the mouth on the caterpillar. Instead, let's pretend I did that on purpose. (Have you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar? I couldn't risk him eating all the food. Without a mouth, he can't do that. See? I'm not forgetful. I'm just a forward -thinker.)

Digging in to her cake, icing first! (Well, actually she spent the first 5 minutes eating the green-dyed coconut "grass". Then, she moved on to the icing.)

We hated for Gabriela to be the only Brasilian at her Churrasco, so we invited the other two Brasilians that live in Burlington. They play basketball for SEC, the local community college. They're both seriously like 12 feet tall or something. They made me nervous (and it had nothing to do with their giant stature.) I never make Italian food for Italians, and I never make Brasilian food for Brasilians; it's just a rule I have. I also very rarely make anything Eric talks about his Grandma making. I just can't handle that kind of pressure. The boys were most complimentary of my food though. And since they came back for more about three times each, I suppose they weren't just being polite!

Taking her first tricycle out for a test drive. (Thanks Grandpa and Momo!)

I used to think gift bags were boring for little kids and that wrapping paper was the way to go. Now that I have a kid myself, I must say gift bags rock. Gabriela LOVED digging gifts out of the bags!

Gabriela's friend, K, showing her how to ride a tricycle. (and licking some left-over frosting off her face?)

Friends A and E giving Gabs a hand with opening gifts.

We had Gabriela's birthday party on Sunday. April 18. Which just so happens to be someone else's birthday. I couldn't let the day pass without at least a little recognition! I baked a Truffle Cake with cherry topping for the big birthday boy and made him blow out candles too!

She obviously takes after her father

We had Gabriela's 12-month check up today. Got the usual good report from her doctor. She is up to 18.5 pounds (10th percentile) and 28.25 inches (15th percentile). So she is growing . . . slowly.

We also got a couple vaccines (prevenar and varicella). And the doctor looked at me weird when I requested that we wait until 15 months for her MMR. I told him we would be more comfortable spacing out her vaccines a little instead of loading up her system with so much at once. He was okay with that, but he obviously thought we were strange. Oh well, probably won't be the last time someone thinks that!

We did have one concern we wanted to discuss with her pediatrician and had been waiting anxiously for her 12-month appointment to bring it up. Every couple of weeks, Gabriela will vomit in a very major way. And usually what she is spewing across the room, into her carseat, or down her father's shirt includes something she ate 8 or 12 hours earlier. There is no common food or activity that triggers it. And it isn't frequent. But it is regular, occurring a couple times per month ever since we started her on solids. All other systems work just fine. She eats very well, she goes poo three times per day every day, she's basically a healthy, happy kid. Whose stomach seems to stop emptying a couple times per month causing her to throw up.

The doctor had a couple theories on what could be happening. He hated to do anything too invasive (upper GI) or start throwing meds out there to try, since it is just an occasional occurrence and since it obviously isn't affecting her overall health. But, he thought it would be good to do an x-ray of her belly just to see if there was some oddity/malformation/something obviously wrong.

We walked down the hall to radiology (our pediatrician's office is in the hospital - super convenient!!) and then back to the doctor.

Turns out little missy has no major problems. But, her gut is packed full of bowels. Yep, she's full of crap. Proving that she might look like her mama, but she's definitely got her dad's genes too! (Just kidding, Dear!)

She already gets a lot of fiber in her daily diet, so the doctor wants us to try giving her a little bulk fiber mixed with her water. (I might try cutting her back to half a banana per day instead of her whole one at breakfast each morning. And maybe add a little more wheat germ too.) Hopefully that will help keep her cleared out and will prove to be the root cause of her stomach back-up and subsequent vomiting.

Her little pot-belly isn't so cute now that we've seen what's in there though!

1 Year Old

My Dear Gabriela,

When you woke up this morning, I brought you into bed with me for a few minutes like we sometimes do. As you cuddled up with your head on my chest and your big blues eyes facing me, I starred at you for a while. I tried to memorize everything about you right now: your gummy, toothless smile, your wild curls, your round cheeks, your soft skin, your cute babbly chatter. And the longer I looked at you, the less I saw a baby and the more I saw a little girl.

It seems like just yesterday I was holding a freshly delivered, cone-headed, slippery, mush-nosed, pouty-lipped beautiful newborn in my arms and feeling a brand new part of my heart open up with a type of love I'd never felt before. I remember our first hours together as your Papai and I studied every inch of your tiny body in amazement that we could have created something so perfect. Now I watch as you totter around the living room looking so much like a real little person, and I try to wrap my mind around how fast it all goes.

Your Papai and I often sit and talk while we watch you play and wonder what the future holds for you. One year has gone by in what seems like the blink of an eye, and we know it won't be long before you're starting your first day of school, going on your first date, and packing up to move off to college. As much as we hate to see our baby girl growing up sometimes, I pray that we are always able to embrace each new phase of your life, to encourage you to pursue your passions, and that you'll always know how proud we are to be your parents.

But enough of all that. Your mama's crazy pregnancy hormones can't take too much more of that right now! Let's talk instead about what you've been up to the last month, shall we?

You are ready to walk! You're up to 6-8 steps now and will actually let go of furniture and walk off on your own. Your balance is improving daily, and I imagine it will only be a matter of days before I have a constant upright shadow (as opposed to one that crawls behind me all day).

You have a huge desire to help around the house. Whether we are folding clothes or tiling the bathroom floor, you want to be right in the middle of it all providing assistance. We are trying to find a good balance between letting you "help" and keeping you from getting stepped on or eating drywall screws. I try to involve you in as many chores as possible, with your very favorite being handing me clothes from the laundry basket as I fold them. While it definitely makes things take longer, it's totally worth it to see your face light up over and over again each time I say, "Obrigada" as you hand me another shirt or sock.

This has been your most cuddly and affectionate month to date. You frequently crawl up into my or your Papai's lap, wrap your arms around our neck, and lay your head on our shoulder or chest. You never stay there real long, but it is awfully nice of you to take a break from your very busy schedule to give us some love each day!

I didn't think it was possible, but you've become even more of a ham around strangers. You wave, smile, stick your tongue out, and giggle (and squeal if they've smiled at you but then look away to do something else) at everyone while we're out and about. There are checkout clerks at several different big stores now who remember you well! (And it's not like we're out shopping that often!) At Jared and Steph's wedding the end of March, your father and I didn't see you for most of the night. You were passed from person to person - and loving every minute of it! The only time you ever really prefer me over a complete stranger is when you're sleepy.

Despite my fears last month that you might be ready to drop your morning nap, they are back on stronger than ever now. You are napping 1 1/2-2 hours pretty consistently in the morning and another hour or so in the afternoon! Your bed time has remained 8:00 pm, you wake up at 7:00 to have your milk, and go right back to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 when we start our day. And now you're napping great! You certainly continue to spoil us in the sleep department!!! (Let's just hope your sibling can live up to the standard!)

Although we did it a little sooner than I was planning, you are completely weaned now. I was planning to start gradually weaning you to whole milk once you turned a year old. But after a couple weeks of you never really latching on (and instead just sort of chewing on me), Mamae had had enough. On April 11, I was tired of you hurting me, you started crying as I pulled you away and tried to make you latch on properly, and I sent your father out to buy whole milk. By the third sippy cup feeding you loved it; we weaned completely in less than 24 hours! You weren't phased by it in the least (even though your mother had to use cabbage leaves for a couple days to help with the engorgement). You absolutely LOVE your 3 sippy cups per day of milk! You like it fine cold, but if it's warm you will actually turn it up and chug the entire 8 ounces without ever stopping to take a breath (an ability we hope you'll lose before you go off to college.)

We celebrated your birthday in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon. We hosted a spring-themed Brasilian churrasco served with a big pot of feijoada, a caterpillar cake, and homemade ice cream. There were 24 of us total to spoil you on your special day, including both sets of your grandparents and two other Brasilians. You completely ate up all the attention, devoured your "special" cake I made for you (yes, I know, we didn't even let you have sugary cake and ice cream on your birthday, but this way you have a sob story to tell your kids or something to discuss in therapy later on), and wore yourself out playing with the big kids.

It has been an awesome year kiddo! Despite that you're at the very bottom of the chart in size, you have been on track or ahead in all of your developmental milestones. You're a smart little squirt who is much stronger and more coordinated than you look like you're old enough to be! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

I love you so much, my Gabers!

Mamae

Excuses

I have a whole lot of reasons why I haven't been keeping up around here lately. But let my assure you that our house is seeing a lot of benefit from it! Since Good Friday (10 days ago) Eric and I have:

Primed and painted both bathrooms, including ceilings (which makes every room re-painted now!)

Ripped out vinyl flooring from 1 bathroom

Installed ceramic tile in that bathroom

Replaced the ugly vinyl floor in our kitchen with hardwood (looks AWESOME btw)

Hung new hardware in both bathrooms

Mowed the grass for the first time this year

Replaced light fixtures in both bathrooms plus the kitchen

Started re-staining the deck (to be finished tomorrow)

Oh, and we also made a trip to Eric's Mom and Dad's for Easter Weekend, I attended a two day doula training up in Waterloo last Friday and Saturday, and we've tried to not ignore our kid in the process. It's amazing how much can be accomplished after her 8:00 bedtime!

I know it's hard to imagine why we'd do our work after bedtime. I mean, look at what an awesome helper she is!

All the while, I am fighting a serious urge to drop everything inside and go work in the yard. We have some major yard projects coming up, and we have been seeing 80-degree days. Spring is FINALLY here!!! But I'm not sure how much longer I can live with my fridge in the foyer and stove and table sitting in the middle of my living room . . . so we continue on inside for now.

We are looking forward to having both sets of parents here this weekend and hosting a churrasco (Brasilian-Style Cookout) for Gabriela's first birthday. Lots of pictures are sure to make their way here real soon (including of all the house updates), so stay tuned. But probably not until next week!

Bebe Dois

We don't like for things to get too settled or routine. We prefer to ensure that every day is an adventure. Right after getting married, we moved to Brasil. Right after we got comfortable with the language and culture, we got pregnant. Right after we got used to being a family of three, we decided it was time to add number four.

Bebe Dois is expected to make his or her grand entrance into the world sometime around September 22! (Big sister Gabriela will be 17 months old then.)

Ultrasound picture at 8 weeks

At 16 weeks into the pregnancy, things have been pretty uneventful - which, despite my sense of adventure, is a good thing! No morning sickness or random nausea. Well, except for once a few weeks ago, but that was my own fault. Crazy pregnant + nursing = constantly starving woman decided she had to have KFC, immediately. Eric was out of town, so I loaded up Gabriela and made a run through the drive-thru. I scarfed down a box of popcorn chicken and half of the potato wedges before we even turned into our driveway . . . it's approximately a 3-minute drive from KFC to home. It was yummy in a way that only a ravenous pregnant person can appreciate. But I very rarely eat fried food. Especially super greasy fried food from KFC. Within an hour, I wasn't feeling so well. Within two hours I was puking. Sadly enough, three hours later, I recounted to story to Eric over the phone - adding that it was totally worth it. (Again, something only a crazy ravenous pregnant woman can understand.)

I've generally avoided greasiness ever since and try to stick to healthier fare. But in rather gigantic proportions. There are a few important points to be made here.

#1: I tend to be super hungry while pregnant.
#2: I tend to get pretty tired while pregnant.
#3: I tend to be super extra hungry while breastfeeding.
#4: I tend to get tired more easily while breastfeeding.

Now, let's combine the two situations. For maybe the first time ever, I have regularly out-eaten Eric. (And even more surprisingly, I ate more than my bottomless pit of a brother (the only person to out-eat Eric at a churrascaria), Nathan, while he was here!) And on a normal day, my bedtime nearly coincides with Gabriela's. Almost 12 hours of sleep each night isn't an unreasonable expectation, is it?

Eric isn't worried about the extra costs involved with having another kid. He's not so sure he can afford to continue feeding his wife though. ;)